The Pursuit of Health: a podcast on health policy for a free and modern society.

The Right to Try 2.0, with Kendra Riley

The first federal Right to Try legislation was passed in 2018, giving patients with terminal illnesses the right to try investigational drugs without having to wait for lengthy FDA approval over the drug's efficacy. The second Right to Try legislation being proposed fills an important gap, the right to individualized treatment that can't be tested on large groups of people. In this episode, I interview Kendra Riley on her own fight for her family and this important legislation. Check out Kendra's story at Right to Try. [https://righttotry.org/kendra-riley/] Check out the Goldwater Institute's work on Right to Try [https://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/right-to-try-for-individualized-treatments-right-to-try-2-0/]. Enjoyed this episode? Then don't forget to like, share, and subscribe to our show. To support our show, and the Center for Modern Health, you can make a tax deductible donation here [https://centerformodernhealth.org/support.php].

Disentangling drug prices, with Tina Marsh Dalton

Americans are fed up with how they pay for prescription drugs. It's overly complex and opaque. In this episode, Tina Marsh Dalton explains how the complexity of prescription drug pricing is primarily driven by having them covered with health insurance, and challenges us to consider a radical solution: de-insuring most prescription drugs so that consumers can shop for them. Check out Tina Marsh Dalton's substack series on disentangling drug prices here. [https://tinamarshdalton.substack.com/p/globalization-in-a-vial-and-disentangling?utm_source=publication-search] Enjoyed this episode? Then don't forget to like, share, and subscribe to our show. To support our show, and the Center for Modern Health, you can make a tax deductible donation here [https://centerformodernhealth.org/support.php].

Cross-Subsidies: Hospitals shield against reform

Hospitals often use profitable services, like orthopedics, to prop-up unprofitable services, like emergency care. In this episode, Jared Rhoads explains how such cross-subsidization not only distorts healthcare prices, but also why we should challenge hospitals' use of cross-subsidization as a justification to prevent much needed market reforms in healthcare. Check out Jared Rhoads' article on hospital cross-subsidization here [https://centerformodernhealth.org/publications/the-headache-of-hospital-pricing]. Enjoyed this episode? Then don't forget to like, share, and subscribe to our show. To support our show, and the Center for Modern Health, you can make a tax deductible donation here [https://centerformodernhealth.org/support.php].

Physician independence: from whom, and for what?

The independence of physicians to practice medicine as they see fit has been eroded over the decades, with the collapse of independent practices and the growth of medical bureaucracy. What will it take to reclaim physician independence? In this episode, we argue that what it will take is to reclaim the very meaning of physician independence, not as an independence from market forces and business, but as an independence gained and earned through them. Enjoyed this episode? Then don't forget to like, share, and subscribe to our show. To support our show, and the Center for Modern Health, you can make a tax deductible donation here [https://centerformodernhealth.org/support.php].

No network insurance, with Emily Kolego (Sidecar Health)

Traditional insurers use provider 'networks' to negotiate lower prices for their policyholders, but they also limit choice and hide prices from patients. What if there is no-network? In this episode, Emily Kolego from Sidecar Health explains how her organization has expanded the idea of no-network health insurance, and how it liberates patients to shop for their own healthcare. We discuss the challenges and promises of no-network plans disrupting the health benefits market. Please like, share, and subscribe to our show. To support our show, and the Center for Modern Health, you can make a tax deductible donation here [https://centerformodernhealth.org/support.php].